Volunteer Spotlight: Joanna Huitt

Over the summer, Greenbelt Alliance’s San Jose office benefitted from the extraordinary help of a super volunteer intern, Joanna Huitt. Joanna, a grad student in San Jose State’s Urban and Regional Planning program at the time, took on the big task of organizing PARK(ing) Day in downtown San Jose, and she did a fantastic job. We had more groups participating than ever before and the quality of the pop-up parks and the new relationships we developed exceeded expectations.

What’s amazing is that Joanna not only volunteered with Greenbelt Alliance, but also with many of our partners—including TransForm, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the Sierra Club. In a sense, this made her job easier since she already knew everyone.

These days Joanna juggles two jobs: working in the Transportation Solutions office at SJSU and as Campaign Manager for Susan Marsland for San Jose City Council District 1. Having just graduated from San Jose State in December, Joanna hopes to land a job working on transportation policy.

Thankfully, Joanna somehow still finds time to indulge in her favorite activities.

“I hiked Half Dome over the summer. It was a big accomplishment for me because I don’t really like heights. I was terrified the entire time I was going up and down the cables!”

In her spare time, Joanna also likes to ride her bike and explore new places, learn how to play guitar, and go camping. Thank you, Joanna, for being a super volunteer!